DEUTERONOMY

Thought I would keep my thoughts to myself today...but wanted to share with everyone my favorite verses that I read in my daily reading today from the book of Deuteronomy. So read, think, pray and worship as you read these.

Deuteronomy 1:3 "...Moses told the Israelites everything the LORD had commanded him [to say] to them."

Deuteronomy 1:29-33 "So I said to you: Don't be terrified or afraid of them! The LORD your God who goes before you will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt. And you saw in the wilderness how the LORD your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place. But in spite of this you did not trust the LORD your God, who went before you on the journey to seek out a place for you to camp. He went in the fire by night and in the cloud by day to guide you on the road you were to travel."

Deuteronomy 4:1 "Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live..."

Deuteronomy 4:9-10 "Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don't forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don't slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren. The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, 'Assemble the people before Me, and I will let them hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children."

Deuteronomy 4:29 "But from there, you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find [Him] when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul."

Deuteronomy 4:31 "He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them by oath, because the LORD your God is a compassionate God."

Deuteronomy 5:6-9 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. Do not have other gods besides Me. Do not make an idol for yourself in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 9 You must not bow down to them or worship them, because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God..."

Deuteronomy 5:11-12 "Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will punish anyone who misuses His name.Be careful to dedicate the Sabbath day, as the LORD your God has commanded you."

Deuteronomy 5:16-21 "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and so that you may prosper in the land the LORD your God is giving you. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not give dishonest testimony against your neighbor. Do not desire your neighbor's wife or covet your neighbor's house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 "Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Deuteronomy 6:18 "Do what is right and good in the LORD's sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and possess the good land the LORD your God swore to [give] your fathers"

Ok, that's it. No comments from me. Just the Word. Let it speak to you today.

Pastor Dave

FAITH

SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS ON FAITH FROM HEBREWS 11

Reading about faith in Hebrews this morning...and I had some random thoughts that I decided to share on the blog...especially since I haven't posted anything in a long time.

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen."

I love this! Faith is the reality of what is hoped for. Who doesn't hope for a better life? Who doesn't hope for something more than this?!?! I remember when the movie "The Goonies" came out. I was an adult, but it struck a chord deep within me, as it did for every other guy I knew who saw it. What "chord" was it? The adventure that we all desired when we were kids!

My buddies and I were always on the lookout for hidden treasure...for and adventure! We grew up, got married, had kids, jobs, responsibilities...and forgot about the great adventure we all wanted to go on...but when I embraced Jesus as my Lord & Savior, I embarked on a great adventure! This was the inner longing I had as a child that had expressed itself in the desire for hidden treasure, for adventure, for discovery!

The faith I have in Jesus is not some weak, wimpy, wishy-washy type of faith...NO! It is the REALITY of what I have always hoped for! When I live out that faith, expressed in worship, in struggle, in temptation, in trials, in the darkest times of my life...it then becomes the "proof of what is not seen."

Hebrews 11:4 "By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain [did]. By this he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through this."

This is my desire. At the time I am writing this I am 54 years old. Now "old" is a subjective word. My kids think I am old. My Dad still thinks I'm a kid. But I know this, at 54, I'm pretty sure I have more years behind me now than I have in front of me. My death is on the way. This body will not make it to the other side...which I'm glad for. I'm looking forward to a new body one day...but between now and then, this verse is one of my most repeated prayers, that after I am gone and with the Lord, that my life, my faith, will live on.

I pray that even though I will be dead, my faith will still speak to those here. This gives me a "big picture" to shoot for. This faith of mine is not all about me, it is about my kids, my grandkids, my great-grandkids, my great-great-grandkinds, my great-great-great- grandkids, and on and on and on. It is about those whose lives I interact with and how my faith may be an instrument that draws them closer to Jesus.

Hebrews 11:8 "By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was going."

This is so not like us today. We have the Word of God, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to guide us to where we should go, and more often than not, we hesitate. We know where God is calling us and we argue and debate the details with Him. We look for loopholes, we try and find hidden meanings in what God is plainly telling us so that we can do what we want in His name, rather than follow Him, regardless of where He is leading. I wonder, would I follow God if He told me to just go north, or go east?

Lord, give me the faith that Abraham had...faith to follow you, no matter what.

Ok, so there's that.Pastor Dave